Monday, April 7, 2014

East Wall Challenges

Some of you have noticed that the Northern portion of the East Wall has been closed.

A week ago two CDOT workers were injured in an avalauncher accident. An avalauncher is the device used to shoot explosives high into avalanche areas. We have three of them at The Basin. Both CDOT workers are close friends of A-Basin and we wish them a speedy recovery.

Following the accident, the State of Colorado suspended all use of avalaunchers while a multi-agency investigation is completed. A-Basin relies heavily on the use of avalaunchers and this suspension has forced us to re-evaluate our avalanche mitigation efforts. Fortunately, we have been able to open the Southern portion of the Wall. We are exploring additional ways to manage and possibly open other East Wall terrain. We fully understand that our guests love skiing the entire Wall. This is a very challenging situation. As we move forward guest and employee safety is our primary concern. Solutions to these challenges may be difficult and time consuming. Thank you in advance for your patience.